Unicorn's Blood
by Tabby Kitten
Summary: Sirius makes a troubling discovery in the forest, but it gives him an idea.


Sirius hated the full moon almost as much as Remus did. Yes, Remus was the one turning into a bloodthirsty monster, but he had three devoted friends at his heels and Madame Pomfrey's capable hands to tend to his injuries afterwards. For Sirius, though, it was getting harder and harder to watch his friend transform into a beast every month. And he had no support system for that. There were no guidance counselors or therapists at Hogwarts, and while James and Peter were brilliant friends, neither of them were great at talking through emotions.

Sirius wedged his way up through the hole at the base of the Whomping Willow. It was about three in the morning and all was calm inside the Shrieking Shack. Now that they could all transform it was safe for them to keep Remus company. Sirius felt bad about abandoning the others tonight, but James and Peter had it under control. He needed to get away and think.

He took off toward the Forbidden Forest, transforming as he ran so that by the time his hands hit the ground they'd become big black paws. He'd recently discovered that dog form was wonderful for running fast and having other creatures fear him. He ran deeper into the woods, his ears flapping in the wind and his large pink tongue dangling sideways out of his mouth. Sprinting like this in dog form helped to clear his mind. He thought about how they'd been gathered in the musty old bedroom at the Shrieking Shack, waiting. Sirius had seen it so many times, but it never got easier. The light would leave Remus's eyes, replaced by a manic gleam of pure . . . something. Something deeply primordial and truly uncontrollable that took hold of their friend every month.

Sirius took a stick from the forest floor and began to chew it, enjoying the way his strong jaws snapped it in half. If only he could do this for the rest of his problems. He'd slowed down now and was snuffling along the forest floor for more suitable sticks. He found half of a Cauldron Cake someone had dropped and snarfed it up, then ran deeper into the forest. The lights from the castle faded as he went, replaced by thicker trees and the strange sounds of the night, but he only stopped when a sharp, metallic scent reached his nostrils.

He jerked his head up to see a thin trickle of silver on the forest floor. Humans had better eyesight, so he switched forms to get a better look. "Lumos."

The silvery stuff was definitely unicorn blood. Thank Merlin they'd just covered unicorns in Care of Magical Creatures class. He moved the light over it, watching how it gleamed and shimmered, then stood up and began to follow the trickle to the source. He knew it wouldn't be pretty and took a deep breath to settle the squirms in his stomach. The only reason for unicorn blood to be here, like this, was foul play. Somewhere in these woods was a unicorn who'd been hurt for its precious blood. Sirius shuddered at the prospect of people like that who would hurt an innocent creature just for personal gain, just for prolonging their own lives. Still, as he gazed down at the blood, an idea came to him. He knelt where it pooled among the leaves, almost touching it. This stuff could save anyone from death, even those beyond any wizard or muggle help. If something happened to Remus on the full moon, if there was ever a time they couldn't be there to protect him—Sirius reached into his robes, pulled out a flask, and—

"Sirius Black! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?"

Sirius dropped the flask in shock and saw Lilly Evans staring at him through a gap in the trees. "What're you doing out here, Evans?" he shouted. "It's three in the bloody morning!"

"I'm out here collecting moonscaffe wings on Slughorn's orders. You know they're best when harvested on the full moon. And there's no need to ask why you're up."

Sirius frowned at her. He was never quite sure if she knew about Remus or was just making educated guesses.

"But you know what unicorn's blood is, Sirius." She continued. "It's terrible. Anyone who drinks it is cursed, from the moment it passes their lips, because they've killed an innocent creature for personal gain. I don't think you've killed it, but what were you doing with it?"

"It's not like that." Siruius muttered. "I didn't kill this unicorn, someone else did. And I don't want its blood for personal gain either. Is it still cursed, if I'm using it to help someone else? Isn't there some kind of magical loophole?"

"I don't know." Said Lilly, biting her lip. "I don't know how the magic would work in those circumstances. But why would you risk it? What could be that important?"

Sirius dropped his head, stooping to pick up the flask. "It's for Remus."

"Remus?"

"I'm worried about him. He has us now for the full moon, but you've seen what's happening in the wizarding world. What if something happens to him on the full moon and we can't be there? What if someone tries to hurt him, you've seen what some people in this world want to do people like him, what if they want to—to . . ."

"Sirius, you can't. You can't. He'd be cursed by drinking the blood."

Sirius dropped the flask, letting it shatter on the ground. "I know. I—I just wanted something that could help him. He's forced to turn into a horrible creature every month and all we can do is just sit there and watch. It just isn't fair."

"I know." said Lilly. She stepped forward, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I know. It must hurt you terribly. But look at what you have done. You've become animagi to keep him company, and that's a very complicated bit of magic, especially for fifth years. You can't fix everything, but you've made a world of difference for him and shown him incredible loyalty."

"How'd you know about us being animagi?" Sirius asked as they kept following the trail of blood.

Lilly laughed. "I'm not dumb, Sirius. I saw Remus playing fetch with you on the grounds last Saturday while a large stag ate several pages out of the potions textbook. Remus doesn't have a dog and deer don't eat potions homework. You've got a box of dog biscuits under your bed too."

"Ok, so I'm an animagus. Promise you won't tell?"

"Of course I'm not going to tell anyone." They both paused, looking at each other and at the unicorn blood on the ground. "Who do you think killed it?" Lilly said after a minute.

"I have a theory," said Sirius, "That you may not like. I think it was Snape and his cronies." She didn't answer. "I'm sorry. I know you're friends with Snape. But he's into some really creepy stuff."

"I know. He's gotten in with some really bad people. We were such good friends before . . ." Lilly trailed off. They'd come upon the corpse of the unicorn. Long slash marks ran down its side, allowing it to bleed out and the blood to run down through the trees. The unicorn had not been mauled by another animal; no, the slash work was too regular, like someone had targeted its major vessels. The whole scene showed signs of dark magic at play. "We should leave." said Lilly. "It's not safe here right now." A cold wind whipped through the trees as she said the words.

"They both held their wands aloft and began to walk back toward the castle. "Why does old Sluggy send students out here, then?" Sirius asked. "Doesn't he know it's not safe?"

"The clearing with the moonscaffes is relatively safe." said Lilly. "But there's darker things stirring in here, I mean, Mary McDonald came out with a black eye last week." Lilly kept throwing glances over her shoulder as they walked. "It's funny, when I was young I thought there couldn't be such a thing as problems in a world with magic. But look where we are. There's only so much we can do for Remus. There's wizards out there who want to kill people like me. Who would've thought a place where sparks flew from our fingers could turn out to be so ugly?"

Sirius shook his head. "It's had its ugly parts for a while now." He rolled his shoulders back, itching to melt into dog form again. The lights from the castle were growing stronger now.

"Sirius?"

"Yeah?"

"I think you should forget all about the unicorn's blood. I know there's people out there who think werewolves deserve death, but he's got all of us behind him. Nothing bad's going to happen to him as long as we're around."

**A/N**

**House: Hufflepuff**

**Year: 5**

**Standard **

**Words: 1,562**

**[creature] unicorn **

**Class subject: Transfiguration **


End file.
